Operating mechanism for railway car doors



May 19, 1936. J. 5. SWANN OPERATING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CAR DOQRS Filed Mafoh :50, 1955 2 Sheets-{Sheet l May 19, 1936.

J. s. SWANN OPERATING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CAR DOORS Filed March so, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (.IIIIL Illll m ME Patented May 19, 1936 PATENT OFFICE OPERATING MECHANISM FOR. RAILWAY OAR DOORS James S. Swann, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Bailway Metal Products Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application March 30, 1935, Serial No. 13,797

3 Claims. (Cl. 268-44) My device relates to railway freight cars and more specifically to the sliding doors which are generally used to close the door openings in the side walls of such equipment.

It is desirable to provide means to forcibly move the door the last few inches to a fully closed position, which means may also be used to release the door from a binding front door stop by forcibly moving the door the first few inches of the opening movement. It is also desirable to release the door from a binding back stop by forcibly moving the door the first few inches of the closing movement. Schlesinger discloses such a means in Patent No. 1,963,152 granted to him on June 19, 1934, and my device is an improvement on his structure.

'One of the objects of the invention is to provide means to positively prevent a roller supported door from moving longitudinally of the car, by impacts caused by sudden starting or stopping of the car, and is especially adaptable to cars equipped with the above mentioned Schlesinger device. It is specifically desirable to use my device to hold the door in a fully closed or fully open position.

In the drawings:

Figs. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing a side door of a railway car and associated parts when the door is in fully closed and fully open positions respectively.

Figs. 3 to 8 inclusive are diagrams showing my device in its various operative positions.

Fig. 9 is a detail of the lever of the, device.

The drawings show the preferred embodiment of my invention wherein the sliding door 2 is supported upon the track 4 by rollers 6. My invention is also adaptable to a door having rollers in brackets secured to top of the door, which roller brackets suspend the door from a track positioned above the door.

A lever 8 is provided with an elongated slot H), which slot pivotally and slidably engages the pintle I2 rigidly secured to the door. Studs l4 are placed at predetermined positions on the car body. The lever B is provided with oppositely projecting wings l6, each of which has an inclined surface l8. The lever 8 is also provided with oppositely extended projections 28-2l and abutments 22-23 are provided on the car door preferably on each side of the pintle I 2. Stops 2425 are provided on the car body preferably adjacent each stud [4.

The device operates as follows: Figs. 1 and. 3 show the device in normal position; i. e., with the door 2 fully closed and against the front door stop 26 so that it cannot move to the readers left and the wing l6 of the lever 8 is behind the stop 24 so that the lever 8 cannot move longitudinally of the car to the readers right. The abutment 22 on the door (shown as a part of the pintle casting) engages the lateral projection 20 on the lever 8 and prevents sliding movement of the lever 8 with the pintle l2 which in turn pre- 10 vents the door 2 from moving longitudinally of the car relative to the lever 8. Such arrangement and association of elements holds the door in fully closed position.

When it is desired to open the door the lever 8 is manually swung around the pintle l2 to a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 4 and then dropped vertically between the studs 14 and I5, as shown in Fig. 5. A force then exerted on the handle 26 of the lever 8 moves the door to a 20 position shown in Fig. 6. The handle 8 then falls by gravity to the substantially horizontal position and the door is moved manually the rest of the way toopen position. In fact the door is quite frequently sent home with a bang in which 25 event the inclined surface I 8 of the wing l6 rides over the stop 24 and also the studs I 4l 5 from the position shown in Fig. 7 to the position shown in Fig. 8. When the door is in fully open position the wing it drops behind the stop. If, 30

however, it is necessary to use the lever to fully open the door, (1. e., to clear the door of the doorway) it may be engaged with the stud 14 in the same manner as heretofore described to fully close the door and as soon as the lever is re- 35 leased it falls of its own weight until the wing I6 is behind the stop 25, which stop 25 prevents the lever from moving longitudinally of the car to the readers left and the other abutments 23 engages the other projection 2| on the lever 8 40 the wing I6 of the lever 8 is also rearwardly in- 50 clined so that when the door is in normal position, as shown in Fig. 3, (or when in the position shown in Fig. 8) the end of the wing I6 is under a part of the stop 24 so that any tendency to move the door longitudinally of the car toward Such arrange- 45 an open position tends to move the'lever downwardly (about the pintle l2) and thus hold the projection 20 on the lever 8 in engagement with the abutment 22.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a railway car having a door opening and a sliding door to close said opening; a stud on the car, a pintle on the door, a lever pivotally and slidably mounted on said pintle, said elements associated and arranged so that the lever may be engaged with the stud to move the door from fully closed position, a projection on the lever, an abutment on the door, a wing on said lever having an inclined surface, a stop on the car, said elements'associated and arranged so that as the door moves to a closed position the inclined surface on said wing rides upon said stop and the wing drops behind said stop and at substantially the same time the abutment engages said projection thereby holding the door in a fully' closed position.

2. In a railway car having a door opening and a sliding door to close said opening, spaced apart studs on the car, a pintle on the door, a lever pivotally and slidably mounted on said pintle, said elements associated and arranged so that the lever may be engaged with one of said studs to move the door from fully closed position and may be engaged with the other of said studs to move the door from fully opened position, projections on the lever, oppositely projecting wings on said lever, each of said wings having an inclined surface, stops on the car adjacent the studs, respectively, said elements associated and arranged so that as the door moves to a closed position the inclined surface on one of said wings rides upon the adjacent stop and one of said wings drops behind one of said stops and at substantially the same time one of said abutments engages one of said projections thereby holding the door in a fully closed position and as the door moves to an open position the inclined 10 surface on the other of said wings rides upon the other of said stops and said other wing drops behind the other of said stops and at substantially the same time the other of said abutments engages the other of said projections thereby holding the door in a fully open position.

3. In a railway car having a door opening and a sliding door to close said opening; a stud on the car, a pintle on the door, a lever pivotally and slidably mounted on said pintle, said elements associated and arranged so that the lever may be engaged with the stud to move the door from fully closed position, a projection on the lever, an abutment on the door, a wing on said lever having an inclined surface, a stop on the car, said elements associated and arranged so that as the door moves to a closed position the inclined surface on said wing rides upon said stop and the wing drops behind said stop and at substantially the same time the abutment engages said projection thereby holding the door in a fully closed position, the engaging surfaces between the Wing of the lever and the stop being so disposed that the tendency to move the door toward 5 an open position tends to move the lever down- Wardly thereby holding the projection in engagement with said abutment.

JAMES S. SWAN'N. 

